Sophomore Keith steps up for Glenbard South

Tavion Keith was in a situation that, just days ago, he couldn't have pictured, even in his wildest dreams.

Clinging to a one-possession boys basketball lead at Riverside-Brookfield, the Glenbard South sophomore produced a game-defining play.

With 20 seconds to play, Keith tipped and stole the ball from the Bulldogs' Jalen Clanton and passed the ball to Kevin Enright, who sank a pair of free throws. Glenbard South beat Riverside-Brookfield 69-65 in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division matchup in Riverside.

Just last Thursday, Keith wasn't even a part of the varsity squad, spending his time on Glenbard South's sophomore team. He even played in Tuesday night's sophomore game.

"It's been kind of out of control, wild," Keith, who added 8 points, said. "I wasn't really expecting to get much time and I just worked my heart out. Tried to play my game, came and made big plays."

It was a situation that Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke was forced into.

"He literally popped out of nowhere," Hardtke said. "On Friday night we had a couple of guys sick and we had a guy at a funeral and so we threw him a uniform and said, We may need you.

"He got a couple of minutes Friday night and looked pretty good and we said, Keep it and we may need you tonight."

He left his teammates impressed, too.

"He stepped up big tonight," senior Charlie Bair said. "(Clanton) killed us, but Tavion came in off the bench, was relaxed, knew his role (and) played really well."

Still, Keith showed his nerves. The guard was fouled with 34 seconds to play but missed both free throws.

"I stepped up to the line, I was thinking about it too much," Keith said.

So he tried to make up for it. And make up for it he did, producing arguably the biggest steal of the night for the Raiders (9-8, 6-1), stealing the ball from Clanton, who finished with a game-high 30 points.

"I just tried to move my feet cause the other guard (Clanton) was really quick and I knew he was going to try that crossover move again. I just saw the ball coming, grabbed it, just tried to make a play."

He even got the chance to make up for his missed free throws. With 4.3 seconds left Keith was fouled again. He sank both free throws.

"I had to come back down and show everybody that I wasn't going to give up," Keith said. "I was going to keep fighting."

Brandon Whiteside led the Raiders with 24 points, while Bair added 14 and Billy Powers chipped in 9.